Chairman’s Corner
Michael Lafferty
were sold, as was the insurance business.
The new ING is a mixed corporate and
retail bank).
I first became interested in banking and
retail banking in particular back in the
late 1970s, when I took over as banking
correspondent of the Financial Times
newspaper in London. This brought
me into contact with a number of new
thinkers who were fascinated by the
power and potential of the consumer
banking sector – people like:
• John Reed, who had the vision to
create a global consumer business and
went on to become CEO of Citibank.
( Sadly, a subsequent merger with the
Travelers insurance and investment
bank to create a universal bank proved
disastrous, eventually resulting in Reed’s
resignation. Today Citi is a much smaller
bank, still recovering from the crisis).
• Eckart van Hooven, the first retail
banker to become a member of
Deutsche Bank’s board of management.
Now deceased, he would be horrified
by what has become of his bank.
• Dee Hock, the visionary thinker behind
Visa, the global payments network.
• Stefan Kaminsky, the bearded German
humanist who created KKB, the world’s
first consumer-only commercial bank
and was later to write the influential
thought leadership report titled “Real
Banks for Real People” that we first
published in 1989 and is still selling.
Over the years I also encountered some
fascinating banks, including:
• Hans Verkoren and Dick Harryvan,
the founding CEOs of ING Direct –
the consumer-only bank that grew into
a global giant by building greenfield
businesses in the world’s largest and
most developed economies. (ING Direct
was a casualty of the crisis: the parent
company was bailed out by the Dutch
government, key ING Direct businesses
built up by a German emigrant who
also provided schools and healthcare
for the staff in what came to be
known as “Cidede de Deo”, the City
of God”
All influenced me greatly and taught me
that there really is a world market for
consumer banking – because people
have far more in common than divides
them – and that the provision of these
services is a sacred responsibility that
should only be the prerogative of
professionals who will always act in
an ethical way in the best interests of
customers.
For further insight into the fascinating
thinking of several of these retail banking
icons, click on the following links:
1. John Reed
2. Dick Harryvan
- Banco Popular in Spain that
had decided to focus on SMEs
and consumers rather than large
corporates. Here I encountered
‘principles-based’ banking in action
for the first time
- Handelsbanken in Sweden, which
devolved all power to the branches
and focused on the overall banking
relationship
- Bradesco in Brazil, a giant of a bank
3. Eckart van Hooven
4. Dee Hock
5. Stafan Kaminsky
Michael Lafferty is Chairman of Lafferty Group, an
international research, education and publishing house
with a worldwide clientele. Michael founded Lafferty
Group in 1981, after 6 years as a journalist at the Financial
Times, where he worked on the FT’s LEX team and the
City Desk, covering banking and accountancy. Michael
is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in
England and Wales.
NKER
BA
CERTIFIE
THE RETAIL BANKER’S
OATH
RETAIL
D
I declare that as a r etail banker I will act with integrity in the interests of bank
stakeholders and society at large.
I will prioritise clients and advise them to the best of my ability. I will comply with
all laws, regulations and codes of conduct that apply to me as a retail banker. I will
maintain strict client confidentiality and hold myself accountable. I will not abuse
my position, or the knowledge obtained in it.
I will make a sincere effort to preserve and promote trust in the banking sector, and
will honour the profession of banker.
CRB